1. Field of the Invention
The present invention concerns a method and software for obtaining an early diagnosis of arthritis/arthrosis in patients.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Degenerative or inflammatory diseases of the musculoskeletal system represent a significant socioeconomic challenge. Due to the increasing aging of a large segment of society, it is expected that arthrotic diseases will substantially increase within the next few years. Diseases in the rheumatic group such as primary chronic polyarthritis (PcP, rheumatoid arthritis) which represents the most frequent inflammatory rheumatic illness, also exhibit an increased incidence. Rheumatoid arthritis is not a disease that is exclusively associated with elderly persons. Rather, the disease generally begins between the 30th and 40th year of life, with a predilection for occurrence in younger women. “Juvenile arthritis” is a special form of this illness that already begins between the third and eighteenth year of life. New pharmaceutical therapy techniques are directed toward treating early forms of inflammatory and degenerative illnesses of the musculoskeletal system as early as possible. The goal is to avoid, or to retard as long as possible, late forms that are usually associated with a significant limitation in the movement capabilities of the patient, as well as an enlargement of joints that is visibly apparent.
Both for degenerative and inflammatory diseases of the anatomy involved in movement, early forms of these diseases are often very difficult to diagnose. The same is true for assessing the success of an early treatment. Moreover, particularly with the early forms of such illnesses, there is a high degree of overlap in the symptoms of inflammatory and degenerative diseases, so that association of a specific disease profile with a specific therapy regimen is not always possible.
In addition to clinical examination and laboratory chemical analysis, medical imaging plays a decisive role in the diagnosis and assessment of a treatment regimen for inflammatory and degenerative diseases of the musculoskeletal system. Conventional x-ray imaging and/or functional imaging techniques, such as ultrasound and nuclear medicine, are among the conventionally used techniques. Magnetic resonance tomography additionally provides an imaging modality that can encompass both morphological and functional parameters in an ideal manner. Due to the relatively high costs associated therewith, and the fact that magnetic resonance tomography systems are not as commonplace as x-ray imaging systems, magnetic resonance tomography has only seldom been used in the diagnosis of early forms of arthritis/arthrosis.
In addition to imaging clinically conspicuous (suspicious) joints, imaging of one or both hands and/or one or both feet (i.e., the extremities of a patient) is primarily implemented for the diagnosis of arthrotic/arthritic illnesses, since early stages of both of these illnesses are manifested in the extremities.
A basic problem of the use of conventional x-ray diagnostics in this context is that the early phase of these diseases produces only indirect signs in an x-ray image, such as a widening (expansion) of the soft tissue shadow, a joint-proximal, band-shaped demineralization, or a widening, followed by subsequent narrowing, of the joint spaces. These features can be detected only with difficulty in a conventional x-ray image.
A further problem in standardizing diagnostics in this field is that different examination modalities may be implemented by different examiners (physicians). All examiners do not always have access to all modalities. Moreover, examinations often occur in different departments of a clinic or hospital, thereby necessitating that the different results from different departments be collected and evaluated in common. Additionally, not all examination modalities are DICOM-compatible, and therefore the results thereof cannot be displayed at a viewing station. Lastly, there are frequently no standardized examination or parameter conditions, making it difficult to compare one examination result with another.